Jose Mourinho Slams Pepe For Letting Portugal Down With Red Card

 Pepe shouldn't have become embroiled in an altercation with Thomas Muller and ought to have been more responsible - particularly because he's not even Portuguese.

That's Jose Mourinho's synopsis after his country's dismal 4-0 defeat against Germany on Monday as he laid the blame squarely at the central defender's door.

Portugal were already two down when Pepe - who Mourinho claims is 'not even a Portuguese man' and should therefore 'behave in a certain way' - pushed his head towards Muller after the pair became tangled in a needless spat.

 

Jose Mourinho claimed the defender should have been more mindful of his responsibilities

Ouch! Pepe leaned into Muller after the pair had begun a spat with Portugal already two goals down

Muller exaggerated the contact before the Real Madrid defender received his marching orders - a reputation of playacting and cheating seemingly going before him. 

Mourinho argues that even though the red card appeared harsh, Pepe - born in Brazil - needed to be mindful of letting his adopted country down.

'I think obviously the second goal is his fault. He's on a zone but he has to make contact with the opponents and he left Hummels and Sami [Khedira] completely on his own and nobody contacted him, no challenge and Hummels scored the second goal,' Yahoo’s Global Football Ambassador said.

'After that I think the frustration of the mistake comes up and after that loses possession with the pressure of Muller and after that we can say is not a real aggression.

'Maybe he doesn't deserve a direct red card but because, in spite of not being a clear aggression, there is a body language that many, many times pushes the referees to have these kind of decisions.

'To leave a team playing with ten men for such a long time is obviously a big handicap for the team.

'The fact that is not even a Portuguese man, I think that should put even more pressure on him to behave in a certain way, which he didn't.'

Laying down the gauntlet: Muller ended up netting a hat-trick for Germany in their opening game win